• Question: How far away was the furthest thing you have ever seen in space?

    Asked by to Alan on 17 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Alan Fitzsimmons

      Alan Fitzsimmons answered on 17 Mar 2014:

      Wow, I’m not sure. I’ve certainly taken pictures of galaxies that are over a billion light years away, so I guess they would do. There are other astronomers who study very distant things, and they’ve seen galaxies that are 10 billion light years away.

Comments

  • Photo: Nick

    Nick commented on :

    Good question! The most distant thing I’ve ever seen in space is probably the Andromeda Galaxy, which is about 2 billion light years away. You can see the Andromeda Galaxy with a small telescope or binoculars, or if you’re at a clear sight with your own eyes.

  • Photo: Alan

    Alan commented on :

    That’s right, you can see the Andromeda galaxy by eye if you stand somewhere really dark without streetlights. The best time of year to see it is late Autumn or early Winter.

    Actually @ mcintyrei and Nick, the Andromeda Galaxy is only 2.5 million light years away. I say “only”, but that still means when the light we see today had left it, our human species had not evolved yet!